My Genealogy Hound

Jeremiah Barnes, among the old and enterprising farmers of Illinois Township, was born in Lancaster County, Penn., May 10, 1815. The Barnes family were originally from Ireland, and after reaching this country they settled in Maryland, where Gilbert Barnes, father of Jeremiah, was born. He grew to manhood in that State, but afterward went to Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Catherine Ford, a native of the last named State. Her father was from England and deserted the British army to join the colonists in the Revolutionary war. The parents of our subject were married in Pennsylvania, and there lived until about 1842, when they moved to Springfield, Ill. The father was a farmer, also a cooper, and could turn his hand to almost any kind of work. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and died at the age of eighty­five. The mother was a member of the Lutheran Church, and died at the age of eighty-four. Their family consisted of ten children, five sons and five daughters. Jeremiah, the youngest, but two of this family received a very limited education, and at the age of sixteen began learning the carpenter’s trade, and this he has followed all his life. Having found his way west as far as Lawrence County, Ind., he met Miss Eunice Beasley, a native of Orange County, Ind., born November 19, 1823, and the daughter of Silas and Cynthia Beasley, who were born In Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively. Richard Beasley, the father of Silas Beasley, was born in Ireland. Silas Beasley was an excellent farmer and trader in produce, shipping it to New Orleans by the old flat-boat method, and died at the age of seventy-four. Of his ten children, Eunice was the third. In 1840 she and Mr. Barnes were married, and after living in Lawrence County, Ind., until 1854, they moved to Washington County, Ark., and here they have since lived. They became the parents of four children: Emily A., Clark, George and Lewis. Emily is the only one now living, and is the wife of Thomas Phelan. Mr. Barnes was the first justice of the peace of Illinois Township after the war, and like his father before him is a Democrat in politics. Mr. Barnes has 300 acres in the home place, and his wife has 283 acres of her own. She looks after all the business, and is accounted as competent for that kind of work as anyone. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are members of the Christian Church, and are excellent citizens.